Polish and West Prussian History

One cannot overstate the effect of the sweep
of history on the Mathia - Matthia family.

In 1795 Poland was wiped off the political map
of Europe only to be resurrected after the First World War,
123 years later. Yet, from the fifteenth to the seventeenth
century it was one of the dominating forces of central and eastern
Europe and the scene of a remarkable experiment in consensual,
constitutional politics, in an area embracing much of what is
not only present-day Poland, but also Lithuania, Ukraine and
Belarus.

"As late as the 1850s, one in five marriages
in the city of Poznan (or, as it was known to its then Prussian
rulers, Posen) were between Poles and Germans. Across wide stretches
of territory, for much of their history, the degree of intermarriage
between Poles and Lithuanians/ Ukrainians/Byelorussians was
at least as high. It remains reflected today in the frequent
incidence in the Polish population of surnames of diverse linguistic-ethnic
origins (a comparable diversity can, of course be found among
Poland’s neighbours)."

Letter from Günter
MathiaA letter from Günter Mathia dated October 10, 1999
giving a short historical background of Westpreußen to the 1700s (includes
some personal family history).

Families
of the Koschnaewjerdörfer (German, partially translated
to English) These seven German
towns in West Prussia have an identity of their own and a unique
story
to tell. The Mathia - Matthia family lived in and around these
towns for over 300 years.

The
History of West Prussia (offsite, in English)
As told by the Germans. Look for the history under 'General Information.' A link is
provided to a German translation of the page that includes more
detail and information by district and city.

The
History of West Prussia (offsite, in English)
As told by the Poles. Translated from late-19th century Polish gazetteer Slownik geograficzny Kr—lestwa
Polskiego. Found at the Polish Genealogical Society of America (PGSA)
site.

The
History
of Poland (offsite, in English)An excellent, longer,
illustrated history of Poland as told by the Poles. This link
points to the Introduction. Use the dropdown links at the
top to navigate the chapters.

History
of Germany (offsite, in English)
This article by John Holwell originally appeared in the September
1997 issue of the Journal of Online Genealogy.